Photos tell story of devastation

Images of Halifax Explosion provide painfully moving record of tragedy

A victim of the Halifax Explosion sits up in a hospital bed, likely at Pine Hill Convales­cent Hospital where injured babies were treated. In 2008 we learned the girl was Kathleen Malloy. (City of Toronto Archives)

The photographic record is dramatic, sobering, heartbreaking at times, and almost overwhelming.

Scenes of devastation and death captured in pictures of the 1917 Halifax Explosion tell the story of a city wrecked, a chunk of its citizenry wiped out or injured, and many survivors left homeless.

They’re black and white images of the pre-atomic age, yet a few exterior shots bring to mind famous photos of Hiroshima, Japan, after a nuclear bomb was dropped there during the Second World War.

Then there are the post-explosion recovery photographs, Halifax landscapes showing snowy streets with damaged houses and destroyed buildings. Other pictures are of corpses and coffins.

Like all keepers of history, such as museums, public archives, libraries, online sources and heritage organizations, newspaper offices store much reading and visual material from yesteryear.

The Chronicle Herald’s library is full of eyewitness accounts of Nova Scotia’s history, including pictures and articles about the explosion that struck Halifax on Dec. 6, 95 years ago.

Though the stories are moving, it’s the stark archival photos that really capture the scope of the tragedy.

One picture taken sometime after the explosion is a ghostly depiction of utter desolation. It shows much of the city’s north end in ruins in the foreground, with placid-looking Halifax Harbour in the background.

Another has a bird’s-eye view of a crowd of people attending an outdoor memorial service. A brass band is assembled by a row of carefully placed coffins.

Then there’s an interior shot of an injured toddler sitting up in a hospital bed. The child’s lacerated face and badly damaged forehead provide proof of the cruel hurt delivered by the blast.

She’s pictured in a little hospital gown, with a big white pillow behind her and a tiny change purse hanging on a bed post.

For many years, the girl went unidentified. In 2008, The Chronicle Herald was notified that the youngster in the photo was Kathleen Malloy. This information came from the woman’s granddaughter.

The explosion occurred in a wartime port that was used to hosting ships involved in the First World War.

Two vessels — one of them carrying munitions — collided before 9 a.m. About 20 minutes later, at 9:05 a.m., there was a tremendous blast. A massive cloud of smoke could be seen high above the harbour.

More than 2,000 people died immediately or up to 12 months later as a result of the explosion. About 9,000 were injured. There were fatalities and badly injured people on both sides of the harbour.

Thousands of houses needed to be repaired.

In 1918, acts of Parliament and the Nova Scotia legislature created the Halifax Relief Commission.

It administered a multimillion-dollar fund covering such things as medical care, compensation and reconstruction. The fund, which cared for the dependents of those killed or disabled, existed until 1976.

Halifax Explosion memorial services will be taking place Thursday morning. The annual remembrance at the Fort Needham bell tower, in the city’s north end, begins at 8:50 a.m.

A Halifax regional fire service ceremony will be held at fire station No. 4, 5830 Lady Hammond Rd., at 10 a.m.

Members of the city’s fire department died in the line of duty in the explosion.

In Dartmouth, a remembrance service will be held at Pinehill Park, at the intersection of Albro Lake Road and Pinecrest Drive, for Dartmouth victims of the blast. It begins at 11 a.m.